an other place he asserts that Souls departed live not the life of Spirits and adds that it is contrary to Scripture to assert otherwise And further If souls lived thus it could not be said that the dead ARE NOT because they ARE as is their chief part If you would know the ground of this opinion it is this The Soul they say can't live without the Body and therefore when this dies the other doth so too The foresaid Author expresses it thus As the body without the spirit is a carkase so the spirit without the body can exert no actions i. e. is as it were a carkase is dead and in an other place he is as peremptory Slichtingius labours to prove that humane souls live not on this side of the last and general Resurrection which appears from their not having a Sense of any thing between the time after their departure hence and the Resurrection The dead are not sensible saith he and accordingly Separate Souls having no sense and perception are concluded to have no life Again in an other place in his Commentary he saith the Souls of the just are not sensible of Happiness till after the Resurrection Volkelius would seem at first to be a Trimmer for he tells us the Soul neither dies nor lives it is neither mortal nor immortal But when he comes to explain himself he lets us see that he is no dissenter from his brethren but concludes with them that the Souls of the departed are insensible of any thing before their re-union with the bodies Nay as you shall hear afterwards he improves this Insensibility into an Extinction I will mention Crellius in the last place though he is a Racovian of the first Rate he gives it us as his perswasion that the souls of the dead have no perception no knowledg of any thing And in an other place he determines that the departed Saints enjoy not the Happiness of Heaven before the End of the World And afterwards he undertakes the Proof of this and produces Eight Arguments for this purpose but he generally founds it on this Hypothesis that there is no Perception without the Body and therefore till there be a Reunion of soul and body the deceased can have no feeling of Celestial Joys they remain destitute of all sâ—…se Thus they all agree that Humane Spirits after death have no Life or Activeness for one is synonymous with the other no capacity of exerting themselves But what can be more contrary to those discoveries which are made to us in the Sacred and Inspired Writings Our Blessed Saviour saith God is not the God of the dead but of the living Mat. 22. 32. which words are spoken of Abraham Isaac and Jacob who are long since departed this life wherefore it is undeniably evident that these Patriarchs live But they do not live as to their bodies therefore it must be meant of their Souls The same Infallible Instructer ascertains us that he who hears his word and believes in him who sent him is passed from death to life John 5. 24. Which words though they may be interpreted concerning a state of spiritual death and spiritual life in this world yet they have a fuller meaning and comprehend in them the passing of believers at their death into a better life than they had before viz. that which is Everlasting of which he speaks in the very same verse And such are said to be passed as if it were already done which is usual in the Scripture-stile because of the Certainty of the thing hereafter But the Socinian Theology runs counter to this they say believers pass from life to death to a state that is wholly uncapable of sense life or action Those words of our Saviour this day shalt thou be with me in paradise Luke 23. 43. prove that the Soul enjoys it self immediately after death and is in a state of Bliss and Happiness The Apostle had a desire to depart and to be with Christ Phil. 1. 23. and assigns this as a reason which is far better that is far better than to abide in the flesh to continue in this world which he speaks of both before and after these words But according to Socinus's followers it is far worse for after the Soul's departure from the body it hath no understanding no perception at all of Christ or any thing appertaining to him Again these men confront not only Scripture but reason they shew themselves as bad Philosophers as Divines for if they had a right apprehension of the Nature of Humane Souls they would not talk after this rate Their notion destroys the very Soul of man for it deprives it of its Essential and Inseparable Quality which is Thinking And besides they grosly imagine that the Body helps the Soul in its operations yea that this cannot subsist without the assistance of that whereas according to the best notions we can form of the body as it is now corrupted it is a hindrance to the operation of the Soul And as for the Soul it is so far from being worsted by its Separation that it is in a much better condition as to its actings than it was Death is but snuffing of this Candle so 't is call'd Prov. 20. 27. it makes it shine the brighter When the Soul leaves the Body it becomes more brisk and active than ever being freed from that fleshly clog and luggage which depressed it This is True Philosophizing but the other is the very dregs of Epicurism It degrades the Rational Part of Man especially that of Good Men for all Separate Souls according to them go to the same place the wicked and the godly are alike as to that there is no difference between them till the Resurrection and Last Judgment Which is a great deal worse than the doctrine of the Church of Rome which assigns different Limbus's to the good and bad And then they are all equal as to this that they are Senseless and uncapable of knowing or acting or any ways exerting themselves Though the Soul exists yet it is as if it were not it hath nothing of its True Nature which is in a manner thrusting the Rational Spirit out of its being Who doth not see that the belief of the Insensibility and Inactivity of the Soul makes way for the belief of its Non-subsistence after the death of the body And so all Religion is dampt and the hopes of a Future State are quite laid in the dust The Socinian Writers verge upon this thus from the pen of one of the Authors before mention'd we have such words as these concerning the Soul Properly speaking it neither dies nor lives but only causes Life as long as it is joyn'd to the Body wherefore properly speaking it can't be said to be Immortal for Immortality belongs only to those beings which themselves actually live And speaking another time concerning the Souls that are separated from their bodies he
in the writings of the New Testament first the Gospel secondly a firm and certain hope of eternal life This is the only acception of the word Spirit in the New Testament so far as we that are under the present dispensation of the Gospel are concern'd As for the former all Christians enjoy it as to the latter it is given only to those that believe and obey the Gospel whence it necessarily follows that it is not requisite before our belief or obedience There is no such thing as the Spirit in order to these i. e. in order to the producing of them in our hearts and lives But though they thus in plain terms renounce the Spirit is there not some Divine Help necessarily requisite for the begetting of faith and holiness in us Yes they grant there is an Outward Help vouchsafed viz. the Promises and Threatnings in the Scripture And there is an Inward one but what is that It is no other than this God's sealing what he hath promised in the hearts of those that obey him which is the same with what was mentioned before viz. a certain hope of eternal life and this is wrought in those that already believe and obey So that it is manifest when they speak of the Spirit and Divine help they mean no previous assistance or operation in order to believing and obeying These spiritual acts according to them are not the product of Divine Grace and the Help of the Spirit for they do not follow these but go before them This is the exact account of the Racovian Perswasion concerning this matter The present Set of Unitarians hold the same they scoff at the particular aids and efficacy of the Spirit in order to Conversion they mock at the inward word which God speaks to the heart whereby the word written or preach'd is rendred effectual whereby Sinners are first convinc'd and then reclaim'd They with Nicodemus profess that they know nothing of this marvellous doctrine they can't imagine what kind of thing this inward word is They will not by any means allow that all is done in Religion by the Grace of God and the assistance of the Spirit beginning continuing and perfecting good actions in us This was the very Heresie of Pelagiâ—…s he and his abettors held it was in every man's natural power to believe and repent without any inward operation of the Grace of God or influence of the Holy Ghost In this the Socinians agree with the Old Pelagians if the Writers of those times give us a true account of them These let us know that it was confidently affirmed by them that it is in the power of man to choose spiritual good without the special assistance of God yea that it is possible to keep the Commandments so strictly and exactly that they shall not stand in need of Pardon that they may arrive to such a Perfection in this life that they shall be able to live without sin as St. Jerom and St. Augustin who narrowly inquir'd into the Sentiments of these men expresly inform us That the Socinians have a Touch of this last to say no more might easily be proved from what is said by Smalcius and Crellius and Bidle and others of them and indeed it partly follows from the abovesaid Principle But the falseness and impiety of it are discernible by those who regulate their thoughts and apprehensions by the Holy Scriptures and who attend to that Article of our Church The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself by his own natural strength and good works to faith and calling upon God Wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God without the grace of God by Christ preventing us that we may have a good will and working with us when we have that good will There is nothing plainer and clearer in the New Testament than this that man can do nothing without the particular assistance of God that will be available to his Salvation And if any man asserts the contrary he makes void the Undertakings of Jesus Christ for he came to redeem us and save us because we were not able of our selves to effect any such thing Wherefore to say we that can of our selves and by our own natural strength do the things that are acceptable to God and will be conducible to our Eternal Salvation is to render the Redemption of Christ useless and unnecessary And this is that which the persons I am speaking of drive at and thereby undermine Christianity it self In brief judg of the Doctrines of the Socinians from what we find in one of the Heartiest Souls of them all who in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians reckons these following Particulars among Vain and Lying Words i. e. Groundless and False Doctrines viz. Justification by the grace of God and not by good works Christ's Obedience and his dying for our sins Faith in Christ Confession Repentance Remission of Sins Baptism and the other Sacrament Also he reckons up among these the Fall of Adam Divine Predestination and Election and afterwards false opinions concerning God and Christ and the Holy Spirit i. e. according to his meaning the believing of the Sacred Trinity Need I now come with my old Charge Do not these men talk like Infidels Fourthly I proceed to display their strange conceptions concerning the Future State and those things which relate to it and to examine whether upon that account they deserve the Character that was given them I will reduce all to these Four Heads viz. their perswasions concerning the Souls of the deceased concerning the General Resurrection concerning the Last Judgment and concerning the Punishment that follows it And the Reader will soon perceive that their apprehensions about all these speak them to be Irreligiously disposed Nay it will be as plain and evident as any Demonstration in Mathematicks that these Writers promote the Cause of Atheists in the world First As to the Souls of those that are dead Socinus holds that till the Resurrection they are devoid of all perception and sensation In these formal words he speaks The Soul of Man after this life doth not so subsist of it self as that it is sensible of any rewards or pains or that it is capable of feeling them And he adds that this is his firm opinion And that we may not mistake him he adjoyns this It sufficiently appears that my sentiment is this viz. that the soul of man doth not so live after his death as that of it self it is capable of rewards and punishments His friend Smalcius is more positive and down-right for these are his words We firmly believe that the deceased Saints exist not for as he explains himself the body perishes and the soul hath no life and perception therefore it may be said that the Saints exist not at all nullâ—… modo In
it is said expresly that then Men shall give an Account viz. of their words and actions Mat. 12. 36. Heb. 13. 17. 1 Pet. 4. 5. and can any but Volkelius imagine that this Form of Speech signifies that they shall be punished if they be guilty of such and such Crimes Again in the Description of the General Resurrection and Last Judgment it is said The Books were opened and the dead were judged out of those things that were written in the books Rev. 20. 12. which imports that there shall be a Scanning of their Lives their Thoughts words and deeds shall be plainly Discover'd these as well as the Persons of Men shall appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ they shall be manifested and laid open Thus the Socinian Error as it is repugnant to Good Reason and Common Sense so it contradicts the Holy Book of God and the Revelation made to us there But this is not all can there be a greater Gratification excepting what I shall mention next to all Atheists than this that none of their actions shall be accounted for Let men blaspheme curse God and Man abjure Religion persecute the faithful Professors of it give themselves up to all manner of Debauchery and Immorality and live and die in the commission of all that is impious and execrable yet they shall never hold up their hands for this at the Last Bar there shall be no particular Account given or taken of any thing of this nature Yea let Men live all their Days in a course of Dissembling in a mere form of Godliness in an external Shew of Religion whilst they inwardly abhor all that is Good and Vertuous nay let them be guilty of the most horrid villanies and impieties in secret let them privily commit murder adultery incest and whatever fact is Horrid and Detestable and let them descend into the grave with the guilt of these upon them without the least motions of Godly Sorrow and Repentance yet be it known to them that they shall never be Examined concerning any of these past actions no not concerning the most secret of them Whatever Enormities they have been guilty of here they shall be passed by in silence hereafter and never be mention'd to their Shame and reproach Surely this doctrine was calculated for the Meridian of those whom I before named Surely none but persons of Atheistical Principles could oâ—… would vent such Conceptions as these and none but those who are Lovers of them can embrace them The last thing which I propounded to speak of under this Head of my Discourse is the Punishment which is awarded at that Final Close of the world And here I shall shew that the Socinians have wretchedly perverted the Holy Scriptures and have thereby gratified those persons who live without God in the world and make their Lusts the only Rule of their actions Though they generally grant that the Ungodly shall rise at the last day yet they tell us that immediately after that they shall be Annihilated or which is the same thing they shall utterly cease and eternally perish as Socinus expresly saith This Perishing of the wicked was at first but hinted by this Writer and therefore a Judicious Author calls it the Covert Doctrine of the Socinian but afterwards he and others were plain and open enough for according to him the Punishment of the wicked is a Total and Eternal Dissolution not a Perpetual Torment but a perpetual Extinction Smalcius interprets Mat. 10. 28. where Christ threatens destruction both of soul and body in hell of the utter Perdition of them and not of the Tormenting of them He propounds it as credible that Ungodly Men as well as Devils are to be utterly destroyed and annihilated and that the Righteous only shall survive And if he did not believe it why did he make Reply to those places of Scripture which are produced to prove the contrary as you may see in his Disputation concerning the Last Judgment In the same place he hath these words The Soul or Spirit can't be cast into hell because according to Solomon it returns unto God Slichtingius is positive that all the future Punishment of the Reprobate is that they shall be eternally destroyed or consumed According to Crellius the punishment of Christ's Enemies after the day of Judgment ends in the Delection of them I 'll mention one Writer more whose words are these God will inflict upon 〈◊〉 man a Punishment that is greater than his Demerits now there can be no Sins so grievous as to equal Eternal Torments Eternity is a long time and this is the Greatest Punishment that can be to be deprived for ever of eternal happiness and to perish for ever As for the English Socinians they are presumed to write after the Copy of their Countryman who hath publickly told the world that all the Wicked are to be burnt up and to perish eternally and never to be any more And I have lately receiv'd it from a Professed Friend of the Gentleman whom I have had to do with about the One Article that he hath sometime express'd his thoughts to this purpose concerning the Eternity of Hell-Torments when it hath been propounded to him but he knows best whether he hath given occasion for such a Report It is certain that this is a doctrine disallow'd of by the Church of Christ in all ages and therefore disallow'd because repugnant to those discoveries of God's will which we have in the infallible Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles Our Saviour told the inhabitants of Choâ—…azin and Bethsaida that it should be more tolerable for those of Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for them Luke 10. 14. And again he saith It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrain that day than for that city which receiv'd not his Apostles Mat. 10. 15 But could he thus speak if the Racovian Position be true that the Punishment allotted to the wicked at the last day is their Utter Dissolution Can the condition of some persons be more tolerable than that of others if their Punishment be the very Same And must it not be the same if it be Annihilation This makes the punishment of all Equal for one can't be more Annihilated than another and consequently it can't be more tolerable for one than another But if we embrace the other Assertion viz. that the Wicked being raised to life at the last day shall be continued iâ—… that life for ever that thereby they may suffer that Torment which they deserve for their Sins then we may understand what our Saviour saith then we may apprehend how it shall be more tolerable for some than others at the day of Judgment that is the Misery of the damned shall be proportion'd to theâ—… Crimes they shall be punish'd according to the Heinousness of their Enormities mighty men shall be mightily tormented But there can be no such thing
necessarily bound to observe them nor did he lose the name of a Worshipper of God who observ'd them not This is the mean and low esteem they have of the Sacred Writings of the Old Testament it was according to them indifferent whether what they enjoyn'd was observ'd or not and particularly Sobriety and Moderation were no Set Vertues under the Law This is the doctrine of an other of them Obscene words saith he revelling luxury excess in eating and drinking mere tolerated and permitted to the Israelites And he further adds that the Patriarchs of old the Jews and all the people under the Old Testament sinn'd not in living licentiously in indulging of all manner of Riot Gluttony Drunkenness Wantonness Turpitude all but downright Adultery and Fornication The Law did not forbid these for Christ he saith was the first that by his law forbad them Therefore they might indulge themselves in all beastly pleasures of the body and impure desires and lusts and all immoderation in eating and drinking and the greatest provocatives of the most filthy lusts These are his very words and it would scarcely be thought that they could fall from the pen of a Writer who professedly treats of the True Religion But when we consider that it is the Socinian Religion whatever he calls it which he means our wonder may cease And yet it will rise again when we remember what shew of Piety and Exactness in Religion these men make and would have us believe that they are a perfecter sort of Christians than others Yet they are not ashamed to give this account of the Religion of the Holy Patriarchs and Saints till the coming of Christ. How high an affront is this to the Divine Majesty that he should allow and approve of these Impurities and Immoralities for this they must necessarily hold because they declare that these were no Sins nor were they disliked by God otherwise he would have forbid the practice of them If I have any understanding in Theology these are vile notions and vented to corrupt the minds and manners of men Though the very law of Nature and Reason forbids these gross Enormities yet they have the face to assert that they were not Sins under the Law Under Gentilism they were Vices as appears from their being inveighed against by the Pagan Moralists but not under the Old Testament Mens Natural Consciences condemn these flagitious practices but God doth not This is the Divinity of the Socinians and who can expect any Moral Truths from them when they discourse after this manner when they vouch the most Immoral actions to have been lawful all the time till our Saviour's coming when those very things which were judged to be Vices by the Pagans their very natural Reason dictating so much to them are said to be Lawful practices among God's own people Certainly these mens Notions which are so corrupted as to Natural Religion must needs be very Unsound as to that which is Reveal'd If their Ethicks be so depraved what can we think of their Christianity We can think nothing less than this that the former Charge is to be renewed here and that with very great and apparent reason To their perswasions referring to Practice I will here annex what they say concerning the Civil Power and the executing of it It is true Sliâ—…htingius is of opinion that Magistracy is lawful and he speaks of it with some respect and deference as you may see in his Questions concerning Magistracy But others express themselves in a different strain and stile representing the Civil Powers as unlawful under the Gospel No Christian can with a good conscience be a Magistrate saith Wolzogen It is not to be tolerated in the kingdom of Christ that one should rule ovâ—… others and exercise power and dominion This he pursues with great warmth And in an other place he tells us that the Magistrate's Office is Useless which he backs with divers Arguments and accordingly explodes that Punishing and Rewarding which are generally annex'd to the Magistratick Office And again he asserts and defends that Christ in those words Mat. 20. 26. It shall not be so among you c. condemns all Earthly Dominion and Superiority and he labours to prove from this place that all Civil Power is utterly forbid under the Gospel Others indeed are not so rigid and fierce they do not hold Magistracy to be altogether unlawful and unchristian but yet that which is really a great part of it is voted to be so by them for it belongs not to the Higher Powers they say to punish any Offenders with death Socinus asserts this without any limitation It is not lawful in the times of the Gospel for a Magistrate to shed any man's blood and bereave him of life saith an Other The Magistrate ought not to use any Capital or Deadly Punishment saith a third And a fourth designedly undertakes to prove that according to Christ's laws no Malefactors no not Murderers are to be punish'd with loss of Life Would you know the Reason of it One of the foremention'd Authors assigns it in these words It is now a time of grace the most perfect love towards our neighbour is commanded He that doth not see that it manifestly follows hence that it is not lawful to take away the life of Criminals that man is blinded by his own flesh or by the spirit of Antichrist and 〈◊〉 long accustoming himself to do evil But if we consult what this Author saith a little before we shall find that he was blind himself for he saith It is not lawful for a Christian Magistrate to shed blood and to deprive any of life but by some other ways which are more severe to restrain and punish them Observe it he would prescribe a more severe penalty yet he rejects the other way because it is so severe and harsh and because the Gospel-dispensation is loving and gentle If these be not Contradictions tell me what are But I will briefly shew that both Socinus and these his followers herein oppose themselves to the Authority of the Holy Scriptures and the Appointment of the Universal Lawgiver of the world which is no mean Instance of their Irreligious inclination That Ancient Law Gen 9. 6. Whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed is not abrogated and therefore is still in force The Magistrate hath here a Commission to put to death persons for Murder Here is a Divine Warrant for this Bloody Execution And our Saviour's words have been applied this way by very Judicious Interpreters They that take the sword shall perish with the sword Mat. 26. 52. i. e. they that use the sword unlawfully they that unjustly shed humane blood are worthy of Death and this generally is their portion St. Paul's words to the Roman Governor Acts 25. 11. shew plainly that it is lawful for Magistrates to put to death those whose Crimes deserve it If I be an
l. 4. c. 23. Smalcius peremptorily asserts that those are Venial Sins which do not merit eternal death and that there are such sins But the rest only say God hath not constituted Eternal Punishment as the just recompence of all Sins Volkelius's express words are Venial Sins are those for which God hath not appointed the penalty of eternal death so that of themselves they deprive no man of eternal life But this contradicts the Apostle who speaks without any reserve and limitation The wages of sin is death Rom. 6. 23. And you may be satisfied that even Eternal Death is included in that general term for death in this former clause of the verse is directly oppos'd to eternal life in the latter one That they symbolize in the doctrine of Praying for the dead may be gather'd from what a Great Man among them saith It is no wonder that those who believe no middle state of the dead pray not for them But those that believe this do well in praying for them He adds There is a much more certain succour and aid in the prayers of the living for the dead than in the prayers of the dead for the living They affect the way of the Church of Rome in the manner of excusing their worshiping the Son of God although they hold him not to be God but a Creature for as the Romanists palliate their Idolatrous Worship in praying to Saints and Angels c. by saying that this Adoration is paid ultimately to God himself so not only the Old but the New Socinians use the same language telling us that the worshiping of the Son is not terminated in him as its utmost scope but passes by and through him to the Father Lastly I might add that the Author of the Considerations on the Explications of the doctrine of the Trinity speaks favourably of Transubstantiation All these things evidence that there is no such great gulf fixed between the Papists and Socinians but that they can hold commerce with one another and in time if there be occasion come closer together I charge not these latter with any formed intentions of promoting the Roman Cause but they may be Factors for Rome though perhaps they know it not However I desire it may be consider'd how Inconsistent these men are when they make a shew sometimes of being great Enemies to the Roman Religion and yet at other times abet and befriend it Would not a Thinking Man be induced to believe that they are at the bottom Favourers of the Pontifician Interest Lastly I appeal to any considerate man whether this be not more probable than what the Socinians charge the Trinitarians with viz. that they are the Causes and Occasions of those Errors and Heresies which compose the gross body of Popery Thus I have offer'd a Brief Scheme of the Anti-Trinitarian and Socinian Doctrines These things might have been further enlarged upon but I was willing to bring all into a narrow compass for the sake of the Meanest Readers such as have not time and leisure to peruse Great Volumes or are not able to purchase them I hear that there is a Reverend and Worthy Person of my Name of the University of Oxford who hath undertaken to give a Larger Account of matters referring to this subject but for my own part I purposely design'd Brevity for the reasons aforesaid and because I have other work of Greater Importance upon my hands for though the handling of the foregoing Points be of great use otherwise I should not have employ'd my self about them yet I give Practical Theology the precedence to them That the Reader may have a Summary View together of all the preceding doctrines of the Socinians I will be yet briefer and couch the whole in a Narrower Draught which you may call if you please the Creed of a Socinian It may be drawn up in this Form and Manner I believe concerning the Scripture that there are Errors Mistakes and Contradictions in some places of it that the Authority of some of its books is questionable yea that the Whole Bible hath been tamper'd with and may be suspected to be Corrupted I believe concerning God that he is not a Spirit properly speaking i. e. Immaterial and Incorporeal but that he is such another sort of Body as Air or Ether is that he is not Immense and Infinite and every where Present but is confined to certain places that he hath no Knowledg of such future events as depend on the free will of man and that it is impossible that these things should be foreknown by him that there is a Succession in God's Eternal Duration as well as there is in Time which is the measure of that Duration which belongs to Finite beings I believe further concerning God that there is no distinction of Persons or Subsistencies in him and that the Son and Holy Ghost are not God the former of these being only a Man and the latter no other than the Power or Operation of God that there was nothing of Merit in what Christ did or suffer'd that therefore he could not make Satisfaction for the sins of the world and the contrary Assertion is deceitful erroneous and pernicious I believe concerning the First Man that he was not created in a state of Uprightness that the Image of God in which he was made consisted not in Righteousness and Holiness and consequently that he did not lose these by his Fall for he could not lose what he had not that Adam's Posterity have receiv'd no hurt have had no stain or blemish derived to them by his Apostacy and the contrary Opinion is a fable a dream a fiction of Antichrist that Mankind having receiv'd no damage by the fall of our First Parents have still an ability by nature to desire and imbrace all Spiritual Good and to avoid all that is Sinful and Vitious that therefore there is no need of the help of the Holy Spirit and that men may believe and repent and perform all religious acts without his operation and influence yea indeed the Spirit is but an Operation it self that men are counted righteous before God not for the Merit of Christ Jesus for he had no Merit but for their own good works I believe concerning the Future State that the Souls of the deceas'd have no knowledg no perception of any thing they are not sensible of any rewards or pains neither are they capable of feeling them so that in a manner they may be said not to Exist for their life activity and sensibleness are vanish'd and their very Nature is absorpt I believe that we shall not rise with the Same Bodies which we have now at the last day but that another Matter or Substance shall be substituted in their place I believe that men shall not at the day of Judgment be required to give an Account of their actions the most Flagitious Sinners shall not be Examined concerning any thing of their past life
they shall not be Tried or Judged Only they shall be Punished and their Punishment is this To utterly eease and perish for ever the Unquenchable Fire is nothing but Annihilation I believe as to Christianity it self that every thing in it is to be submitted to the dictates of Humane Reason and what cannot be explain'd and made out by this is no part of the Christian Religion and consequently that there are no doctrines appertaining to it which are Mysterious and Superiour to our Reason I believe as to Divine Worship that it may be given to another besides God that a Creature may if God thinks fit be the object of Adoration and consequently Christ who is but a Creature may be worship'd with Divine Worship even the same that is paid to God the Father I believe that Prayer as eminent an act of Worship as it is was not required in the Old Testament for God's people had no need of Praying then they were able to do all that was commanded them in their Religion without the Divine Assistance and therefore the Invoking of God became not a Duty till Christ's time I believe the Lord's day commonly so call'd is a Ceremonious Observance and abolish'd by the Gospel which takes away all Choice of Days I believe that there is no Spiritual Blessing convey'd or conferr'd in the use of the Sacraments and particularly that Baptism is an useless Rite which the Christian Church under the Gospel hath nothing to do with but more especially the Baptizing of Children is insignificant vain and childish and hath neither Precept nor Example to commend it to us I believe there is no Distinct Function or Office of Ministers in the Christian Church and that the Lord's Supper it self may be administred by any private Christian or Brother As to Moral Points I believe that Officious Lies are lawful that the Motions of Concupiscence are not Vitious that idle or obscene words gluttony drunkenness riot luxury and all impure desires and lusts were not forbidden till Christ's time and consequently were no Sins I believe concerning Magistrates that they have no power of Life and Death it is not lawful for them now under the Gospel to inflict Capital Punishments on any Offenders or Malefactors no not Murderers and Cut-throats Concerning some other Articles I believe as the Church believes I mean the Church of Rome for we symbolize with them in several points of doctrine Lastly after all I believe that though the foresaid Articles are necessary to make a man a Socinian yet the belief of only One is enough to make a Man a Christian and that One Article is that Jesus is the Messias in which it is not included whether he be God or Man whether he satisfied the Divine Justice for our sins and by vertue of his Death purchas'd Life for us But when I say I believe Jesus is the Messiah I mean only this that such a Man of Nazareth was Anointed Ordain'd and Sent of God to be a Saviour and that this is He who was foretold and promis'd to be sent by God This is all I believe and there is no Necessity of believing any thing more This is the Socinian Creed and I have faithfully drawn it up out of their own Admired and Applauded Writers I know it will be said here that some besides professed Socinians hold some of these things To which I answer I made it not my present business to observe what Others say but to represent what that body of men who are known by the name of Socinians profess and own Again it is not one of these Opinions alone excepting that concerning the Blessed Trinity which can give the denomination of Socinian it is the Complication of them that must do it Therefore Iinsist not on any one Single Opinion of lesser importance Those that bear upon them the General and Complex Characters which I have layd down in the preceding Discourse are the Persons that I design'd In short I write not and never will by God's assistance to humour and gratifie any Party of Men but to assert and vindicate the Truth which is pleasing to all Good Men. And therefore if any sort of persons shall censure my freedom I shall have recourse to my own Innocence and Integrity that is my hearty designs and indeavours to advance that Cause which I verily believe hath Truth on its side because it hath the Scriptures on its side If they shall say and what will they not say that the English Socinians give not their suffrage to all these Particulars which I have produced and named and therefore my Charge against the Foreigners doth not reach them I desire these following things may be considered and then this Evasion will be found to be very weak and useless and nothing to their purpose and it will appear that this Scheme of Socinianism belongs to them as well as to the rest First we are not sure that some of those who go under the name of English Socinians are not Foreigners Is not Crellius's Stock somewhere harbour'd among them Have there not been seen strange Outlandish Books at the Press of late May we not suspect some Transylvanians and Polanders employ'd in the work lately Are we not sure that there are some Irish as well as English ingaged in the service Why then are we nice in distinguishing when they are not differenc'd as to their work and design Secondly as for our very English and Native Socinians they borrow'd their Opinions from those Foreigners they fetch'd them from those Writers and they maintain them by the same Arguments that they did They use the very same Texts and urge them after the same manner they follow them step by step vouch their Reasonings applaud their Discoursings only they dress up their notions in an English garb and give them a more Modish Turn than they had before That 's all the difference between those Authors and these of late in England Thirdly though some of the Moderns are so politick as to be silent about some of the Points that I have mention'd yet we have no reason to gather thence that they are not inclin'd to imbrace them It is a remarkable hint of a very Observing Person There is reason to suspect saith he that the Socinians have some other odd Tenents which they think fit rather to conceal than to deny For we must consider this that they would first gain their Main Point the overthrow of the Trinity and all the Maxims that relate to that This is the Leading Card with them and therefore they chiefly insist on this intending we may suppose to urge the rest afterwards For it would be too much to undertake at one time to defend all the other doctrines And besides it would be too odious to reject so many receiv'd Propositions at once Therefore they go not this way to work lest they should be universally cried down It is their cunning to proceed gradually and to undermine Christianity